“Ela...” a whine echoed through the hallway, “Come to bed...”
She sighed in frustration as she pinched the bridge of her nose. The action nudged her glasses up ever so slightly. Her tone made it clear that she was both stressed and agitated. “No Asta, I have to finish this project for work. This needs to be finished in two days.”
“But I want hugs and cuddles,” Asta replied, her voice getting progressively louder as she entered Õnnela’s office, already dressed for bed in an over-sized T-shirt, “Besides ya said it’s not due for another two days. Save it for tomorrow.”
“That’s not possible. We’re going to dinner with Ingrid and Merja. They’re celebrating their one-year anniversary remember? You know how much Merja likes to talk. We’ll be lucky if we get out at 10 o'clock.”
“Boo... you work too much,” She muttered. Asta crept up behind Õnnela’s leather chair and wrapped her arms over her lover’s shoulders. She gently rested her head on top of hers and can faintly smell the cinnamon fragrance that still lingered from this morning. Õnnela hummed in what sounded like a sign of approval when she patted Asta’s hand.
“Asta I can’t work if you’re hanging onto me like this. I need to be alone,” She paused. “I’ll be finished with this in a few minutes. Wait for me in bed and we can cuddle all you like.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
Asta seemed satisfied with her response and broke away, but not before placing a kiss on Õnnela’s cheek.
“I’ll be waiting.”
Asta had been waiting patiently in the queen-sized bed they shared with the television running. She had tuned into a program that had stand-up comedians perform their jokes in front of a large studio audience. Her laughter was loud and nearly every joke had her in tears. Õnnela could hear her all the way from her office and it only irritated more. She didn’t say anything however (she knew Asta wouldn’t listen anyway) and instead grabbed an old iPod from the top drawer and put on her work playlist. With the music blaring through the blue-coloured ear buds, she could no longer hear her girlfriend in the background and could easily fall back into focus of her spreadsheets and word documents.
A few minutes turned to thirty, than an hour, and an hour and a half and Asta was growing impatient. With the clock reading 22:38, she decided enough was enough and stormed back to the office. As she got closer to the entrance, Asta could hear strange, but familiar, noises. Õnnela was hunched over her laptop, her head pressed against multiple keys on the keyboard. The pressure was a little much for the computer to handle, thus the loud beeps emitted through system’s internal speakers. Asta’s angry frown was quickly changed to a more worrisome one.
“Oh Ela...” Her voiced trailed as she ran her fingers through Õnnela’s thick locks of blonde hair. Her girlfriend was such a dedicated and hard worker. Nothing she did was mediocre, she’d put her best at everything she touched, even at the cost of skipping meals and losing sleep. She remembered that Õnnela was up early today, ate very light throughout the day, and then brought the office home with her. Asta had begun to feel guilty and selfish when she recalled how demanding she was earlier in the evening. An apology was an in order but for now, all Asta wanted to do was to care for her sweetheart. She scooped Õnnela off the seat and lifted her up bridal-style. Õnnela however was a light sleeper and the sudden movement jolted her awake. She panicked when she realized Asta was pulling her away from her work.
“A-Asta! Put me down! I need to finish those documents!”
“Not a chance! You’re in no shape to continue. It’s time for bed.”
Õnnela continued to plead but Asta refused and brought her to their bedroom. Asta had checked to see if her laptop was connected to an outlet before leaving. She would have hated herself that Õnnela would have had to start all over again, had that not been the case. Normally Õnnela would have stubbornly fought to get want she wanted but she clearly didn’t have the energy for it. She allowed herself to be placed gently on the bed. Asta helped her undress, down to where all she was left with was her panties. In the dresser across from the bed, Asta grabbed a pair of blue pyjama boy shorts and a black T-shirt with the Star Wars logo and handed it to her. Just as she helped her undress, Asta did the same dressing her back up. Though Õnnela felt Asta had done enough and she could do the rest on her own, she ignored her and continued on by helping into the warm sheets. When Asta joined her into bed, Õnnela had begun to get cozy in the sheets and dumped her glasses on the night table next to her. Asta got her wish and she was all giggly with joy as she cuddled up next to her girlfriend. But as joyful as she was, Asta hadn’t forgotten about earlier and was determined to set things right.
“Hey, I just wanted to let ya know that I’m sorry.”
“About what?” Õnnela asked softly. Though she couldn’t see, she knew Asta was staring right at her, gently brushing her cheek. The need for sleep was coming at her quickly and she knew she wouldn’t be awake for much longer.
“About how I acted earlier. I didn’t mean to sound so difficult towards ya.”
Õnnela adjusted herself to let herself bury her head into Asta’s chest, “Oh don’t worry about that. I know how affectionate you can be and how much you crave it. I’m sorry I can be a little cold sometimes.”
“You’re perfect,” Asta replied as she held Õnnela tightly. “I never have doubts about yer love.”
She was surprised to feel Õnnela’s lips against her own but she couldn’t stop grinning about it.
“You’re so hard-working. I admire you so much,” Asta charmed. “But they’re running ya into the ground. You can’t keep going like this.”
Õnnela hummed, “Just two more weeks. Then I start the job I always wanted. I get to teach piano and choir at the conservatory I trained at when I was younger. It’s a dream come true.”
Asta could hear the delight in her voice and she was just as excited. She was so happy for her girlfriend. The day Õnnela told her the big news, Asta was probably more excited than she was. She ordered for a big celebration to be had and invited all their closest friends. Õnnela felt that it was way too over the top and that it wasn’t necessary but Asta insisted on it.
“Yeah, but in the mean time you better take care of yourself. Ya got that?”
Asta didn’t get a reply and noticed that Õnnela had drifted off to sleep. She amorously watched over her for sometime before shutting off the lamp. She gave her forehead a small peck and kept her close. She loved Õnnela so much in ways she couldn’t never describe. Asta whispered out “I love you” in the rustiest Estonian she could possibly muster before sleep finally overtook her.